Definiteness vs. Indefiniteness in the Turkish language

Abstract

Despite the lack of an element comparable to the “definite article” found in major west-ern languages, which is alien to its structure, Turkish is often able to indicate whether a noun phrase is definite or indefinite through morphological, syntactic and suprasegmental resources. This paper examines in detail how an agglutinative synthetic language like Turkish uses these various strategies.

Keywords

Turkish, definiteness, indefiniteness.

Definiteness vs. Indefiniteness

in the Turkish language*

Luciano Rocchi

* This is a revised version of my paper “La categoria del definito/indefinito nel turco (osmanlı)”, Incontri Linguistici 24 (2001), pp. 151-166.

Rivista Internazionale di Tecnica della Traduzione / International Journal of Translation 2016 (18), 185-205

0.1 Introduction

“Definiteness” and ‘indifiniteness” are the two values of an important grammati-cal category, which basigrammati-cally allow the distinguishing between entities/referents that are identifiable in a given context and entities/referents that are not. Speak-ers of western languages like English, French or Italian immediately associate these features with the “(definite/indefinite) article”:

Noun phrases with the and a and their semantic equivalents (or near-equivalents) in other languages can be thought of as the basic instantiations of definite and indefi-nite noun phrases, in that the defiindefi-niteness or indefiindefi-niteness stem from the presence of the article, which has its essential semantic function to express this category (Ly-ons 1999: 2).

Scholars have devoted many studies to this category, which is rather complex and actually results from the overlapping of quantification (totality/partiality) and textual reference (known/unknown). This means that (in)definiteness is nec-essarily connected to further concepts such as uniqueness, specificity, familiar-ity, inclusiveness. Since these issues cannot be dealt with here, it is sufficient to mention two classic reference books, Hawkins (1978) and Lyons (1999), where this topic is thoroughly analysed.

This paper focuses on the way in which Turkish expresses this category. As is well known, Turkish is one of the best examples of agglutinative synthetic lan-guage and something like our “definite article” is totally alien to its structure. Nevertheless, this language is often able to mark definiteness (and indefinite-ness) by using various (morphological, syntactic, suprasegmental) strategies, as will be explained in the following pages. My study aims also to sketch a contras-tive analysis between Turkish and English (in certain cases, Italian too).

1. Turkish marking of indefiniteness

1.1 S/R indefiniteness markers 1.1.1 Singular nouns

A singular countable noun is marked for S/R indefiniteness by the free morph bir, i.e. the Turkish numeral for ‘one’, which means the indefinite determiner if unstressed1_:

(1) bir adam geldi

one NUM/IND man ABS came PAST-3sg ‘one [stressed]/a [unstressed] man came’.

Note, however, that a noun marked with bir can also have a NS/NR indefinite status especially when it indicates a singular object in the absolute case, see (40) b, (41)b, (57)a, (58)a, (59)a.

The position of bir in a noun phrase formed by adjective + substantive is dif-ferent according to its meaning. When it functions as a numeral it must precede the adjective, when it functions as an indefinite determiner it is usually placed between the two elements of the phrase:

(2) bir güzel kız geldi

one NUM/IND beautiful ABS girl ABS came PAST-3sg ‘one beautiful girl came’.

(2)a güzel bir kız geldi

beautiful ABS one NUM/IND girl ABS came PAST-3sg ‘a beautiful girl came’.

However, it should be noted that bir placed before the adjective can sometimes express the indefinite determiner too. In this case, it has been pointed out that the adjective has a purely qualifying, not distinctive value (Krámský 1972: 111-112, Lewis 2000: 51). A similar distinction is made by a Romance language like Italian, which can place the adjective before or after the noun for this purpose; so the Ital-ian translation of (2) is ‘è venuta una bella ragazza’, that of (2)a would rather be ‘è venuta una ragazza bella’ (as distinct from a less beautiful girl).

1.1.2 Plural nouns

The status of S/R indefinite in plural nouns is marked by indefinite quantifiers like bazı, kimi ‘some’:

(3) bazı/kimi adamlar geldiler

some IND men ABS-PL came PAST-3pl ‘some men came’.

1.2 Indefiniteness markers for mass nouns

NS/NR indefiniteness with mass nouns can be indicated by using expressions like biraz ‘a little, some’, belli bir miktar ‘a certain amount (of)’:

(4) biraz ekmek yetmez

a little IND bread ABS suffice-not NEG-AOR-3sg ‘a little bread is not enough’.

(5) Hasan her zaman yemekte belli bir miktar şarap Hasan ABS each DIST time ABS in-meal LOC a certain amount IND wine ABS

içer

drinks AOR-3sg

‘Hasan always drinks a certain amount of wine at (his) meals’.

The phrase belli bir ‘a certain’ is useful to give mass nouns the status of S/R indefinite: (6) lokantada her zaman belli bir şarabı içerim at-restaurant LOC each DIST time ABS a certain IND wine ACC drink AOR-1sg

‘at the restaurant I always drink a certain wine’.

2. Turkish marking of definiteness

2.1 Cases as definiteness markers 2.1.1 Absolute

The first case of the Turkish noun inflection, characterised by the suffix -Ø, i.e. by the lack of any morphological mark, is called yalın durum ‘simple state’ by mod-ern Turkish grammarians (Korkmaz 2007: 267). Westmod-ern scholars use different names for indicating this case: some, bound to the Indo-European tradition, call it nominative, others absolute (name we will use too), others casus generalis. The absolute is neutral with respect to the category we are dealing with, namely it can express either definiteness or indefiniteness on the basis of its grammatical function (subject, predicate, object, first member of izafet/tamlama) and/or its modifiers.

2.1.1.1 Grammatical functions of the absolute case 2.1.1.2 Subject

The subject usually has the status of definite when it is topicalized, i.e. in initial position, and is not expressly marked as S/R indefinite:

(7) adam geldi

man ABS came PAST-3sg ‘the man came’.

(8) adam Türk değil

man ABS Turk ABS is-not NEGCOP ‘the man is not a Turk’.

(9) güzel kız gitti

beautiful ABS girl ABS went PAST-3sg ‘the beautiful girl went away’.

In some contexts, the subject without modifiers can indicate genericness as well: (10) adam ölümlü

man ABS mortal ABS ‘man is mortal’.

(11) at binicisini tanır

horse ABS its-rider Px3sg-ACC knows AOR-3sg ‘a horse knows its rider’.

words, it is ‘incorporated’ into the verb (Dede 1986: 153). In such cases, it obvi-ously has a NS/NR indefinite status:

(12) köpek havlıyor

dog ABS is-barking PROGPR-3sg

‘a dog/dogs is/are barking’ [the same sentence could mean ‘the dog is barking’ if the stress is shifted on the verb].

When the subject is in non-initial position and therefore non-topicalized, it has to be interpreted as NS/NR indefinite, unless it carries contrastive stress as in (14)b or is marked by defining modifiers as in (17):

(13)a para Ali’de money ABS in-Ali LOC ‘Ali has the money’.

(13)b Ali’de para var

in-Ali LOC money ABS existent EXIST ‘Ali has money’.

(14)a yerde çocuk yatıyordu

on-ground LOC child ABS was-lying PROGPAST-3sg ‘children were lying on the ground’.

(14)b yerde çocuk yatıyordu, annesi

on-ground LOC child ABS was-lying PROGPAST-3sg his/her-mother ABS-Px3sg değil

is-not NEGCOP

‘it was the child [with contrastive stress] who was lying on the ground, not his/her mother’.

The subject is overtly marked as definite when its modifiers are a) demonstrative pronouns, b) possessive suffixes, c) clauses ending in a participial form:

(15) bu ev çok küçük this DEM house ABS very ADV small ABS ‘this house is very small’.

(16) evim büyük değil

my-house ABS-Px1sg large ABS is-not NEGCOP ‘my house is not large’.

(17) seni arkadaşın bekliyor

you PERS2sg-ACC your-friend ABS-Px2sg is-waiting PROGPR-3sg ‘your friend is waiting for you’.

(18) okula giden çocuk kardeşimdir

(19) çocuğun gittiği okul uzak child’s GEN (pertaining-to-)his-going OBJPART-Px3sg school ABS far ABS ‘the school that the child goes/is going to is far-off’.

Modifiers of the (b)-(c) types are also possible with subjects marked as S/R indefinite: (20) bir arkadaşım geldi

one/a NUM/IND my-friend ABS-Px1sg came PAST-3g ‘a friend of mine came’.

(21) okula giden bir çocuk görüldü to-school DAT going SBJPART one/a NUM/IND child ABS was-seen PASS-PAST-3sg

‘a child who went/was going to school was seen’.

2.1.1.2.1 Plural subject

A plural subject usually neutralises the opposition definite vs. indefinite: (22) adamlar geldiler

men ABS-PL came PAST-3pl ‘men/the men came’.

(23) güzel kızlar gittiler beautiful ABS girls ABS-PL went PAST-3pl ‘beautiful girls/the beautiful girls went away’.

Word order can distinguish between definiteness and indefiniteness in the same way as for singular nouns:

(24)a çocuklar yerde yatıyordu

children ABS-PL on-ground LOC was-lying PROGPAST-3sg ‘the children were lying on the ground’.

(24)b yerde çocuklar yatıyordu

on-ground LOC children ABS-PL was-lying PROGPAST-3sg ‘there were children lying on the ground’.

According to Underhill (1976: 33) a copular sentence marks the plural subject as generic, while the lack of the copula marks it as definite. This distinction is not pointed out by Tura (1986):

(25)b atlar tembel horses ABS-PL lazy ABS ‘the horses are lazy’. (26)a kızlar çalışkandırlar

girls ABS-PL hardworking-are ABS-COP3pl ‘girls are hardworking’.

(26)b kızlar çalışkan

girls ABS-PL hardworking ABS ‘the girls are hardworking’.

A plural subject that is the head noun of a noun phrase is marked for definiteness exactly like a singular subject:

(27) bu evler çok küçük this DEM houses ABS-PL very ADV small ABS ‘these houses are very small’.

(28) evlerim büyük değil

my-houses ABS-PL-Px1sg large ABS is-not NEGCOP ‘my houses are not large’.

(29) okula giden çocuklar kardeşlerimdir

to-school DAT going SBJPART children ABS-PL my-brothers-are ABS-PL-Px1sg-COP

‘the children who go/are going to school are my brothers’.

(30) çocukların gittikleri okullar children’s PL-GEN (pertaining-to-)their-going OBJPART -Px3pl schools ABS-PL

uzak far ABS

‘the schools that the children go/are going to are far-off’.

2.1.1.3 Predicate

The predicate is neutral with respect to definiteness, even if it may be assigned an indefinite status in qualitative statements and a definite status in equative statements:

(31) bir zamanlar ben de çocuktum

one ABS times ABS-PL I PERS1sg also CONJ child-was ABS-PAST-1sg ‘once I too was a child’.

(33)a Mehmet kasaptır

Mehmet ABS butcher-is ABS-COP

‘Mehmet is a [qualitative]/the [equative] butcher’.

The use of the indefinite determiner bir gives a S/R indefinite status to the predi-cate placing more emphasis on the statement:

(33)b Mehmet bir kasaptır

Mehmet ABS one/a NUM/IND butcher-is ABS-COP ‘Mehmet is (just) a butcher’.

(34)a ben adamım

I PERS1sg man-am ABS-1sg ‘I am a man’.

(34)b ben bir adamım

I PERS1sg one/a NUM/IND man-am ABS-1sg ‘I am a man [and not an animal]’.

However, if the predicate is a noun phrase including an adjective it is normal to place bir between adjective and noun to mark indefiniteness:

(35) ben büyük bir adamım ‘

I PERS1sg big ABS one/a NUM/IND man-am ABS-1sg ‘I am a big man’.

2.1.1.3.1 Plural predicate

The distinction between definiteness and indefiniteness is overt in the case of plural predicates without modifiers, as the morphological mark of the plural +lAr is taken only by predicates with a definite status, which have to show number agreement with the subject:

(36)a tanıştığımız adamlar mühendistiler (characterised-by-)our-meeting OBJPART-Px1pl men ABS-PL engineer-were ABS-PAST-3pl

‘the men whom we met were engineers’.

(36)b tanıştığımız adamlar mühendislerdi (characterised-by-)our-meeting OBJPART-Px1pl men ABS-PL engineers-was ABS-PL-PAST-3sg

‘the men whom we met were the engineers’.

(37)a mahkemeye girenler yargıç değiller

(37)b mahkemeye girenler yargıçlar değil

to-court DAT entering(-persons) SBJPART-PL judges ABS-PL is-not NEGCOP ‘those entering the court are not the judges’.

Note however the following sentence (from Jansky 1949: 32) where an indefinite noun phrase functioning as predicate shows number agreement with a plural subject:

(38) Ahmet ve Mehmet çalışkan çocuklardır

Ahmet ABS and CONJ Mehmet ABS hardworking ABS boys-is ABS-PL-COP ‘Ahmet and Mehmet are hardworking boys’.

2.1.1.4 Object

The (direct) object in the absolute case without modifiers marks NS/NR indefi-niteness and neutralisation of the opposition singular vs. plural. It is said to be ‘incorporated’ into the verb:

(39) kitap okumayı severim book ABS read INF-ACC I-like AOR-1sg ‘I like reading a book/books’.

(40)a Mehmet mektup yazdı

Mehmet ABS letter ABS wrote PAST-3sg ‘Mehmet wrote a letter/letters’.

(41)a ekmek aldım

bread ABS I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought bread’.

The use of the indefinite determiner bir indicates that only one thing is involved: (40)b Mehmet bir mektup yazdı

Mehmet ABS one/a NUM/IND letter ABS wrote PAST-3sg ‘Mehmet wrote a/one letter’.

(41)b bir ekmek aldım

one/a NUM/IND bread ABS I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought a loaf of bread’.

(42) Mehmet (bazı) mektuplar yazdı

Mehmet ABS (some IND) letters ABS-PL wrote PAST-3sg ‘Mehmet wrote (some) letters’.

The same rules apply when the object is a noun phrase: (43)a yeni kitap aldım

new ABS book ABS I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought a new book/new books’.

(43)b yeni bir kitap aldım

new ABS one/a NUM/IND book ABS I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought a new book’.

(43)c yeni kitaplar aldım

new ABS books ABS-PL I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought new books’.

For the marking of an indefinite object with the accusative see 2.1.2.

2.1.1.5 First member of izafet/tamlama

The word of Arabic origin izafet, literally ‘annexation’, was traditionally used by grammarians to indicate the Turkish (possessive) noun phrase. Though this name is still kept in some modern grammars (e. g. Lewis 2000: 40), it has been replaced by the neologism tamlama in the current Turkish linguistic terminology (Korkmaz 1992: 145). The izafet/tamlama structure is - as a common feature of the Turkic syntax - regressive, namely the determiner always precedes the head noun, which usually takes the third-person possessive suffix. There are basically two types of this structure, the one with the first member, i.e. the determiner, in the absolute case, the other with the determiner in the genitive case. The former marks an exclusively NS/NR indefiniteness of the determiner, which has there-fore a merely qualificatory value:

(44)a üniversite profesöri seni bekliyor

university ABS its-professor ABS-Px3sg you PERS2sg-ACC is-waiting PROGPR-3sg ‘the university professor is waiting for you’.

(45)a çocuk kitabı aldım

child ABS his-book ABS-Px3sg I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought the children’s book’.

(46)açoban kızı koyuna bakar

Any modifier that precedes a determiner in the absolute case necessarily refers to the head noun:

(44)b bir üniversite profesöri seni

one/a NUM/IND university ABS its-professor ABS-Px3sg you PERS2sg-ACC bekliyor

is-waiting PROGPR-3sg

‘a university professor is waiting for you’. (45)b yeni çocuk kitabı aldım

new ABS child ABS his-book ABS-Px3sg I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought the new children’s book’.

(46)b gördüğüm çoban kızı (characterised-by-)my-seeing OBJPART-Px1sg shepherd ABS his-girl ABS-Px3sg

koyuna bakar

to-sheep DAT looks AOR-3sg

‘the shepherd-girl whom I see/saw minds the sheep’.

2.1.1.5.1 Subject of nominalized clauses

The Turkish subordinate nominalized clauses are constructed like an izafet/ tamlama group with the determiner acting as subject and the head noun acting as predicate. An important type of nominalized clause is the noun clause, term which Kornfilt 1997: 49 uses as referring to clauses that have the same distribu-tion as regular noun phrases. The subject of a noun clause is put into different cases according to definiteness: the absolute marks it as indefinite, while the genitive marks it as definite:

(47)a sulh yapıldığı rivayeti peace ABS (the-fact-of-)its-being-made PASS-FNOM- Px3g its-rumour ABS-Px3sg

çıktı

went-out PAST-3sg

‘rumour has it that peace has been made’.

(47)b vapurun battığı bildiriliyor

ship’s GEN (the-fact-of-)its-sinking FNOM-Px3sg is-being-made-known CAUS-PASS-PROGPR-3sg

‘it has been reported that the ship has sunk’.

(48)a çocuğu arı soktuğunu duydum child ACC bee ABS (the fact-of-)its-stinging FNOM-Px3sg-ACC I-heard PAST-1sg

(48)b çocuğu arının soktuğunu duydum child ACC bee’s GEN (the fact-of-)its-stinging FNOM-Px3sg-ACC I-heard PAST-1sg

‘I heard that the bee stung the child’.

Another kind of nominalized clause is the ‘gerund-equivalent’ (as Lewis 2000: 184 calls it), i.e. a clause equivalent in meaning to one of the many adverbial forms of the Turkish verb called ‘converbs’ by most western scholars and zarf-fiiler by Turk-ish ones. Its subject is always put into the absolute, whether it is definite or not:

(49)a soyadı kanunu çıkacağı

surname ABS its-law ABS-Px3sg (pertaining-to-)its-future-going-out

zaman ben Avrupaya gitmiştim

Px3sg time ABS I PERS1sg to-Europe DAT had-gone PPART-PAST-1sg ‘when the surname law was about to be promulgated, I had gone to Europe’. (49)b insan vasiyetnamesini yazacağı

man ABS his-will Px3sg-ACC (pertaining-to-)his-future-writing FOBJ PART-Px3sg

zaman avukatını çağırmalı

time ABS his-lawyer Px3sg-ACC call-must NEC-3sg

‘when a man is about to write his will he should call his lawyer’.

2.1.2 Accusative

The accusative, called belirtme durumu (TS 2005: 240) or yükleme durumu (Korkmaz 2007: 277) by Turkish grammarians, takes the suffix -(y)I as case marker and is tightly bound to the category of definiteness as it usually indicates the definite object:

(50) kitabı aldım

book ACC I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought the book’.

(51) yeni evleri gördüm new ABS houses PL-ACC I-saw PAST-1sg ‘I saw the new houses’.

Lexemes that are definite by their nature like proper nouns and pronouns must have accusative marking when they have the function of object:

(52) Ankara’yı gezdik

(53) bunu sevmiyorum

this ACC I-am-not-liking NEG-PROGPR-1sg ‘I don’t like this’.

The object must be accusative-marked also when it is already made definite by some modifier:

(54) şu kitabı aldım

that DEM book ACC I-bought PAST-1sg ‘I bought that book’.

(55) evimizi kiraladı

our-house Px1pl-ACC he/she-rented PAST-3sg ‘he/she rented our house’.

(56) okula giden kızları gördük

to-school DAT going SBJPART girls PL-ACC we-saw PAST-1pl ‘we saw the girls who went/were going to school’.

If bir precedes a noun in the accusative it may mean the numeral ‘one’, but, with different stress, it indicates also S/R indefiniteness, see (58)b, (59)b:

(57)a bir kitap okudum one/a NUM/IND book ABS I-read PAST-1sg ‘I read a book’.

(57)b bir kitabı okudum one/a NUM/IND book ACC I-read PAST-1sg ‘I read (only/just) one book’.

An indefinite object can also take the accusative case marker in the following cases: a) If it expresses S/R indefiniteness:

(58)a her gün bir gazete okuyorum every DIST day ABS one/a NUM/IND newspaper ABS I-am-reading PROGPR-1sg

‘every day I read a newspaper’.

(58)b her gün bir gazeteyi okuyorum every DIST day ABS one/a NUM/IND newspaper ACC I-am-reading PROGPR-1sg ‘every day I read a (particular) newspaper’.

(59)a bir öğrenci arıyorum. Bulamıyorum one/a NUM/IND student ABS I-am-looking-for PROGPR-1sg I-can-not-find ABIL-NEG-PROGPR-1sg

(59)b bir öğrenciyi arıyorum. Bulamıyorum one/a NUM/IND student ACC I-am-looking-for PROGPR-1sg I-can-not-find ABIL-NEG-PROGPR-1sg

‘I am looking for a student. I can’t find him’.

(60)a dün Hasanın tavsiye ettiği

yesterday ADV Hasan’s GEN recommendation ABS (pertaining-to-)his-doing birkaç kitap okudum

OBJPART-Px3sg a few IND book ABS I-read PAST-1sg ‘yesterday I read some books that Hasan recommended’. (60)b dün Hasanın tavsiye ettiği

yesterday ADV Hasan’s GEN recommendation ABS (pertaining-to-)his-doing birkaç kitabı okudum

OBJPART-Px3sg a few IND book ACC I-read PAST-1sg

‘yesterday I read some (specific) books that Hasan recommended’. In (60)a “the speaker does not presume that the hearer knows that Hasan rec-ommended any books at all. Furthermore, it is likely that Hasan recrec-ommended more books than the speaker read” (Kornfilt 1997: 278). An Italian translation of this sentence could be ‘Ieri ho letto dei libri che Hasan ha raccomandato’. In (60)b

the speaker read a certain number of books that Hasan recommended; s/he is thinking of specific books and is presuming that the hearer knows that Hasan did recommend certain books, if not the identity of those books. Furthermore, the speaker exhausted the list of books recommended by Hasan (Kornfilt 1997: 278).

An Italian translation of this sentence could be ‘Ieri ho letto quei libri che Hasan ha raccomandato’.

b) If the object is removed from its unmarked position - immediately before the verb - for topicalizing or other reasons:

(61)a sabahları kahve severim in-the-morning ADV coffee ABS I-like AOR-1sg ‘I like coffee in the morning’.

(61)b kahveyi sabahları severim coffee ACC in-the-morning ADV I-like AOR-1sg ‘It is coffee that I like in the morning’.

c) If the object is generic, its marking through the accusative is optional: (62) çocuklar çikolata(yı) sever

However, when the generic object is plural, the accusative case marker is obligatory: (63) bir öğretmen öğrencileri sevmeli

one/a NUM/IND teacher ABS students PL-ACC like-must NEC-3sg ‘a teacher must like students’.

2.1.3 Genitive

The genitive, called tamlayan durumu (TS 2005: 1898) or ilgi durumu (Korkmaz 2007: 268) by Turkish grammarians, takes the suffix -(y)In and, as already men-tioned, serves to mark the definite status of the first element of an izafet/tamlama group (Lewis 2000: 41):

(64) çocuğun kitabı ilginç

child’s GEN his/her-book ABS-Px3sg interesting ABS ‘the child’s book is interesting’.

(65) çocukların kitapları ilginç

children’s PL-GEN their-books ABS-Pxpl interesting ABS ‘the books of the children are interesting’.

The genitive also marks S/R indefiniteness:

(66) bir çocuğun kitabı ilginç

one/a NUM/IND child’s GEN his/her-book ABS-Px3sg interesting ABS ‘the book of a child [with different stress the noun phrase could mean ‘the book of one child’] is interesting’

(67) küçük bir çocuğun kitabı ilginç

small ABS one/a NUM/IND child’s GEN his/her-book ABS-Px3sg interesting ABS

‘the book of a small child is interesting’.

(68) bazı kitapların sayfalarını okudum some IND of-books PL-GEN their-pages ABS-Px3pl-ACC I-read PAST-1sg ‘I read the pages of some books’.

The subject of subordinate nominalized clauses, whose predicate is both partici-ples in -AcAk, -dIk/-dUk and a verbal noun in -mA, always takes the genitive marker when it has a definite or S/R indefinite status except for cases mentioned in 2.1.1.5.1:

(69) çocukların oynadıkları park çok children’s PL-GEN (pertaining-to-)their-playing OBJPART-Px3pl park ABS very büyüktür

ADV large-is ABS-COP

(70) bir arkadaşımın geleceğini

one/a NUM/IND my-friend’s Px1sg-GEN (the-fact-of-)his-future-coming

söyledim Px3sg-ACC I-said PAST-1sg

‘I said that a friend of mine would come’. (71) bu mektubun açılmasını

this DEM letter’s GEN its-(action-of-)being-opened PASS-ANOM-Px3sg-ACC istiyorum

I-am-wanting PROGPR-1sg ‘I want this letter to be opened’. For other examples see (19), (30), (47)b, (48)b.

3. The third-person possessive suffix as ‘definite article’

According to the great turcologist K. Grønbech, the third-person possessive suffix of the Turkic languages originally had the function of a veritable definite article:

Im folgenden gebrauche ich für das genannte Suffix [scil. das Possessivsufix 3. Person] die Benennung Artikel, nicht nur weil die uns an erster Stelle interessierende gram-matische Funktion dieser Form sich mit der unseres bestimmten Artikels vielfach deckt, sondern auch deshalb weil ich diese Funktion als die ursprüngliche ansehe; die sonst übliche Benennung, Possessivsuffix, bezieht sich auf eine spezielle, mit der Zeit immer wichtiger gewordene Auswirkung der ursprünglichen und umfassenderen Bedeutung (Grönbech 1936: 92).

This viewpoint has often been criticised by later scholars (see Johanson 1990: 177), but it is a matter of fact that “the possessive significance of the suffix of the 3rd person can completely recede when it defines or determines a noun, or, more often, a pronoun” (Menges 1968: 113) in all Turkic languages. Consequently, this suffix has a substantivizing and defining force in Turkish too, by virtue of which an adjective can become a (definite) noun or pronoun:

(72) zengini aynı şeyi söylüyor, fakiri

its-rich ABS-Px3sg same ABS thing ACC says PROGPR-3sg its-poor ABS-Px3sg aynı şeyi söylüyor

same ABS thing ACC is-saying PROGPR-3sg

‘the rich man says the same thing, the poor man says the same thing’. (73) sizden akıllısı yok

(compared-to-)you PERS2pl-ABL its-clever ABS-Px3sg non-existent NEGEXIST

(74) bunu bana birisi verdi

this ACC to-me PERS1sg-DAT its-one NUM/IND-Px3sg gave PAST-3sg ‘someone gave me this’.

(75) bazısı bu gazeteyi sever

its-some IND-Px3sg this ABS newspaper ACC likes AOR-3sg ‘some people like this newspaper’.

(76) kaldır bunu, başkasını getir

take-away IMP-2sg this ACC its-other IND-Px3sg-ACC bring IMP-2sg ‘take this away, bring another’.

(77) hangisi geldi?

its-which INT-Px3sg came PAST-3sg ‘which of them came’?

The third-person possessive suffix serves as definiteness marker of Turkish nouns in the case of the so-called ‘Janus construction’ (Lewis 2000: 46). This term refers to a third-person linking in one sentence between two related or closely connected people, who are both defined by the suffix in question:

(78) oğlu babasına bir mektup yazdı his-son ABS-Px3sg to-his-father Px3sg-DAT one/a NUM/IND letter ABS wrote PAST-3sg

‘the son wrote a letter to the father’.

(79) hastası doktorunu arıyor

his-patient ABS-Px3sg his-doctor Px3sg-ACC is-seeking PROGPR-3sg ‘the patient is seeking the doctor’.

(80) hocası talebesine bakar

Grammatical abbreviations

1pl first person plural

1sg first person singular

2pl second person plural

2sg second person singular

3pl third person plural

3sg third person singular

ABIL abilitative ABL ablative ABS absolute ACC accusative ADV adverb AOR aorist

ANOM action nominal

CAUS causative CONJ conjunction COP copula DAT dative DEM demonstrative DIST distributive EXIST existential

FFNOM future factive nominal FNOM factive nominal FOBJP future object participle

NEG negative NEGCOP negative copula NEGEXIST negative existential NS/NR nonspecific/nonreferential

NUM numeral

OBJPART object participle

PASS passive

PAST past

PERS personal pronoun

PL plural

PPART past participle PROGPAST progressive past PROGPR progressive present

Px possessive suffix

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